hours at least. The guys were gone. Probably in the kitchen since they seemed so determined to take care of her this weekend.
She kicked off the covers and flexed her toes. Lord, but she was sore. Deliciously so. Her body felt heavy and languid, the kind of feeling you could only get from deep-seated contentment.
She pulled on her jeans and her sweater, not bothering with a bra. Chances were she wouldn’t have her clothes on long enough to worry about anyway.
She walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen. She could hear the guys talking in low voices and smiled. As she got closer, she stopped in her tracks. She kept out of sight and listened to the conversation unfold in the kitchen.
“I have to admit, when you came up with this idea, I was skeptical,” Wes said. “I wondered if you’d really heard Gracie right.”
Gracie wrinkled her brow. What on earth was he talking about?
“You don’t think that now, though,” Luke said with a laugh.
Wes chuckled. “Hell no. It’s obvious she really wanted this. It’s too bad you didn’t overhear her a lot sooner.”
“I doubt she and Michelle discuss it that much,” Luke said. “Gracie’s a private person. If she hadn’t just broken up with dipshit, I doubt she would have said anything at all.”
“You’re probably right. Still, it worked out great. You were able to set up this entire weekend, and I think she really enjoyed it.”
Luke laughed again. “See, there are advantages to eavesdropping. Gracie would kill me if she knew I’d listened to her conversation, but it worked out great in the end.”
Gracie’s mouth fell open and a wave of humiliation rolled over her with the speed of a Mack truck. She could barely process what the conversation meant. She was too busy trying to control the burning in her cheeks.
The whole thing had been an elaborate set-up because Luke had overheard her talking to Michelle about her fantasies?
She didn’t even realize she’d stumbled into the kitchen until Wes and Luke looked up at her. Guilt flashed in Luke’s eyes, and hurt washed over her again.
“Gracie…” Luke began.
She held a hand up, trying to control the shaking. She’d already made a big enough ass of herself. Oh God, when she remembered all they’d done, she just wanted to bury herself in the ground.
“Is that all this was?” she said in a trembling voice. “Were you two just cashing in on my fantasies? You see a way to have a good time at my expense? You are supposed to be my best friends.”
“God, Gracie, no, you can’t think that,” Wes protested.
They both started toward her and she shrank back. Her bottom lip trembled and she bit down, ignoring the pain.
“I thought…I thought this week happened because you cared about me,” she said painfully, her gaze focused on Luke. “I feel like such an idiot. Why the games? Why the elaborate charade? Why let me fall in love with you if none of this was real?”
“Gracie, you have to listen to me,” Luke said desperately.
She spun away, grabbing the keys from the coffee table.
“Gracie, wait!”
She ignored him and ran from the house as fast as she could. She hurled herself into his truck and locked the doors even as she jammed the key in the ignition.
Luke ran out of the house toward the truck, shouting her name. He tried to open the door as she began to back up.
“Damn it, Gracie, don’t go!”
She rammed her bare foot on the accelerator and gunned the engine. When she’d backed far enough out of the drive, she threw it into drive and whipped around.
She raced down the highway, her embarrassment so acute she wanted to curl up and die. If you looked up ass in the dictionary, there had to be a picture of her.
A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped angrily at it. Could she have misread the situation any more? She’d just made the biggest fool of herself ever. With guys she considered her best friends on earth. Guys she couldn’t even look in the face anymore.
The forty-five minute drive back home seemed interminable. She’d been stupid to take Luke’s truck. She’d be lucky if he didn’t have her arrested. But then she’d done a lot of stupid things in the past week.
She drove up to her house and parked Luke’s truck next to her car. She left the keys in it, knowing he’d come by looking for it. She went inside long enough to get a pair of shoes and her jacket then she got into her car and took off.
She was being hysterical and unreasonable. She knew that much. She’d carried on like a complete nitwit, but she’d been so humiliated to learn the real reason why Luke had gotten close to her.
She drove with no real sense of direction until she found a quiet, secluded place to park. She needed to calm down, start acting rationally again. Again. Ha. She hadn’t acted rationally in months.
Her first mistake was going out with Keith. She’d only compounded that mistake by allowing herself to fall in love with her best friend. Her third mistake had been thinking he had feelings for her beyond those of friendship.
She wasn’t going to cry. Even though she felt the sting of tears, she was determined not to give in. She’d already made a big enough ninny of herself.
She sat there, staring at the sky, numb. For several hours. Luke would have his truck back by now. He and Wes would be home, probably wondering what the fuck her problem was.
Emitting a weary sigh, she started the engine and drove slowly toward the main road. She instinctively headed for Michelle’s. It was late. Or early depending on your point of view, and she hated to disturb her friend’s sleep, but she needed a shoulder to cry on in the worst way. This whole stiff upper lip was getting old fast.
It was nearly four in the morning when she pulled into Michelle’s driveway. She turned off the engine and slowly got out. Before she closed the door, she saw Jeremy hurry down the steps and stride across the lawn toward her.
She trudged toward him, and he held his arms open to her. He caught her in a hug and kissed the top of her head.
“We’ve been worried sick about you, Gracie. Come on in. I’ll make you some hot chocolate.”
She smiled gratefully at him. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. I didn’t mean to worry y’all. Especially not Michelle.”
“Luke and Wes are worried too,” Jeremy said quietly. “I need to call and let them know you’re okay.”
Gracie stiffened.
“Gracie, Luke is frantic. He’s worried something happened to you. I’m just going to call and tell him you’re all right.”
She nodded, guilt creeping over her.
Once inside, Michelle hurried over and hugged her tightly. Then she dragged her over to the couch and made her sit down.
“What on earth happened?” Michelle demanded.
Gracie sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “I made an ass of myself. That’s what happened.”
Jeremy returned and pressed a hot cup of chocolate into her hands.
“Thanks,” she said.
Jeremy sat down on the other side of Gracie and put a comforting hand on her leg. “Tell us what happened, Gracie.”
She flushed and set her cup down on the coffee table. “Apparently Luke overheard our conversation,” she said to Michelle. “The one about my fantasies.”
“Ohhh,” Michelle said, her eyes wide.
“And apparently he wanted to fulfill those fantasies for me. He asked me out and we spent the week together. I thought he was interested in me. I confided those fantasies in him and he arranged this weekend. Wes was a surprise.”
She broke off and ducked her head in embarrassment when Michelle’s eyes widened further in shock.
“You mean, you and Luke and Wes?”
“Yeah,” Gracie muttered.
“You’re angry with them for not telling you they knew?” Jeremy asked in a confused voice.
Gracie sighed. “I’m not angry with them,” she said quietly. “I’m angry with me. And I’m so humiliated I want to just find a
hole to crawl in.”
“Oh honey,” Michelle said. She reached over and squeezed Gracie’s hand. “Why on earth should you be embarrassed?”
“I just wish Luke had been up front. Told me from the beginning that this was about sex. Instead he made me believe…he made me believe he cared about me. He made me fall in love with him,” she said miserably. “And all along it was just a game. His heart was in the right place. I know he’s never approved of the men I’ve slept with. He wanted to give me a weekend I’d remember. I understand that.”
Michelle wrapped her arms around her and hugged tight.
“I let my mouth get ahead of my brain again, and I basically blurted out that I loved him. Just before I ran like a scalded cat. Now I’ve got them both mad at me because of a huge misunderstanding. One I perpetuated. I guess in a way, I wanted it to be the truth. I wanted Luke to love me.”
“Are you so sure he doesn’t?” Jeremy spoke up.
She nodded, tears burning holes in her eyelids. “I heard him and Wes talking. And Luke’s never said anything to make me believe he cares for me beyond a friend. I just got wrapped up in the whole going out thing and confused sex with love. You’d think I was twelve years old or something.”
She bowed her head as hot tears splashed onto her arm. “I screwed up.”
Jeremy gently nudged her chin up with his knuckle until she looked him in the eye. “Don’t blame yourself, honey. There are two grown men who are as big a part in this as you are. I don’t know what the hell happened, but I don’t think we have the full story here.”